Finding Peace
by jg2000
Summary: AU. The Wizarding War has been going on for nearly two decades. Harry Potter, after escaping the clutches of Dumbledore and the Order, has been on the run. One night in an abandoned old house, he meets Daphne Greengrass. From there, the two of them work together to end the war and to find peace.


_Alright, so I kind of lost interest in Escape. After awhile, though, I went back to it and edited it. A lot. I made many changes to the story, but I personally feel it's better than the old version. I renamed the story too. I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update, though.  
_

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Finding Peace: A Chance Meeting

The house was dark, damp, and dreary. It looked as if it had been abandoned for many years. A teenage girl crept into the kitchen with her wand tip alight. A few strands of her overgrown blonde hair fell into her face, and she gently tucked them behind her ear. The house, as far as she knew, was empty.

There was no source of light beside her wand and the full moon glowing brightly outside the cracked window. She had tried the switch for the Muggle lights- light bulbs? - but they didn't work. Concentrating hard, she then managed to conjure two candles. She smiled faintly at her success, and proceeded to light them.

The girl's icy blue eyes studied the cramped kitchen after the candles were lit, making sure there was no one hiding in some corner. After finding no sign of humans, she nodded slightly in approval and walked to the cracked window. Just then, the kitchen door creaked open. Her wand slipped into her hand on instinct and she shrieked, "Stupefy!"

The intruder deflected her spell silently and swiftly, as if doing so was something he or she did regularly. The girl jumped aside just before the jet of light came hurtling back at the window. It shattered.

The intruder moved farther into the kitchen. She could now see an outline, although its face wasn't directly in the light. "Who's there?" she called.

The figure moved even closer to the girl. She took a step back, but leaned forward to see the intruder's face. The person was male, with messy black hair, emerald green eyes, and a pair of round glasses. In that small moment, the girl managed to gather quite a few facts about the intruder.

He was a skilled wizard, at least in defensive magic, judging by his quick and nonverbal Protego. He hadn't eaten in several days; it looked like, likely because he was on the run. Most people who were skilled at magic and who looked malnourished were likely on the run, as they had probably done something to anger a group. An image of many hooded figures in black flitted across her mind, but she immediately pushed it away.

"Who are you?" she managed to whisper.

He paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not to tell her his name. Finally, he repeated her words, "Who are _you_?" His voice was rough, perhaps an effect of not talking for a long period of time.

The girl frowned, wondering the possible consequences of letting him know who she was. She decided to tell him only her first name, thinking it couldn't do too much harm. "Daphne," she replied simply.

One side of the intruder's lips quirked upward in slight amusement. He seemed to have caught on to Daphne's deliberate action to not state her full name. Following her example, he said, "Harry."

Daphne scowled. Although she was very aware that Harry had not been unfair, she asked, "What's your surname?"

"You tell me yours first," was the immediate reply.

Daphne scoffed. "You could use that against me. Why would I tell you?"

Harry's eyes narrowed a little. "I won't do anything to you, I swear," he said. "As long as you're not dangerous."

"Your idea of dangerous could be very different from mine, you know."

Harry scrutinized her for a second. At last, he said slowly, "Fine then. As long as you don't attack me, I won't attack you." Eyeing Daphne's expression, he added, "Promise."

Daphne actually laughed out loud at this, but it was a bitter laugh, not a joyous one. "Promise?" she repeated incredulously. "What good does a promise do? You could break it anytime you wanted, and I personally don't want to be on the receiving end of one of your curses just because of my name."

It was Harry's turn to scowl. "I usually keep my promises, you know. And you're only making me more curious with your reluctance, anyway. Are you famous or something?"

"I'm not _famous_, but I could get killed if I came across the wrong person," Daphne said cautiously.

Harry considered her words. "I'm pretty sure that you'd be dead by now if I was the wrong person," he commented rather lightly.

This _was_ a valid point, but Daphne couldn't afford to make any mistakes. "You could just be making sure I was the right person," she accused stubbornly.

Harry looked extremely annoyed. In a voice of forced calm, he said, "Just tell me your name already! I won't do anything, alright? But you're making yourself seem more dangerous, what with the way you're speaking."

In truth, Daphne was also very curious about Harry's identity, but she was much better at hiding it. As she looked at his face more closely, she realized he looked _very_ familiar. But Daphne simply couldn't remember where she had seen his face before. "You'll have to tell me your name, too, then," she said finally.

"That's fair," Harry agreed. "So then, what's your surname?"

Daphne hesitated for one more second, but replied. "It's Greengrass. Daphne Greengrass."

Harry's eyes widened slightly. "Greengrass? You mean the Pureblood family?"

"Yes," Daphne answered.

Suddenly, Harry frowned. "What do you have to fear, then? Isn't your family neutral?"

Again, Daphne laughed bitterly. The coldness of her laugh sent chills down Harry's spine. "My family _was_ neutral. But you can't exactly be neutral anymore when your father starts making deals with the Dark Lord, can you?"

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it abruptly. After a long pause, he asked, "So, are you a Death Eater or something?"

He sounded remarkably unfazed. "No," Daphne said. "That's why I've been on the run. I refused to join."

Daphne could practically feel Harry's respect for her rising. "You refused? That's pretty brave of you," he said.

"I'm not brave," Daphne corrected him. Bravery was such a _Gryffindor_ trait. "I chose the path that sounded prudent to me. It was between serving the Dark Lord, possibly dying or getting imprisoned in the process, and running away, where I might have a better chance at survival if I didn't mess up. It looks like I've just messed it up, though," she finished.

Harry shrugged. "It still takes bravery to defy Lord Voldemort." Daphne flinched. "And I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm not a Death Eater."

Daphne's fists clenched. Harry just didn't understand that she wouldn't, she _couldn't_ trust anyone, good or bad. "Oh, so you're one of those Order members then, aren't you?" she sneered. "And now you're about to try and convince me to join the fight against the Dark Lord. Well, the answer's no. I plan on staying _out_ of this war."

Daphne had been so wrapped up in her rant that she didn't notice Harry's expression darken at the mention of the Order of the Phoenix. "I'm not in the Order," he growled. "At least not anymore."

Harry's words made Daphne's head snap up. "What do you mean, not _anymore_?"

"I'm not part of the Order of the Phoenix anymore," he explained. "I used to be, but-" he stopped speaking, as if realizing he had almost let out a deep secret.

"But what?" Daphne interrupted.

"But I quit," he finished lamely.

"So you're neutral?" Daphne asked. "And who are you anyway? You never told me."

Harry pressed his lips together. "I'm not neutral," he said. "I'm still against Voldemort. I just don't quite _agree_ with the Order. And my surname is Potter. I'm Harry Potter."

Daphne now remembered why he looked so familiar. She had seen the obituary for Harry's parents, James and Lily, in the Daily Prophet several years ago. "Potter? As in James Potter, the Order member?" she asked carefully, not wanting to upset him.

Harry focused his eyes on one of the candles. "Yes."

"So you basically quit the Order of the Phoenix, but you still want the Dark Lord defeated?" There was definitely something missing from the story, but Daphne knew that Harry wouldn't answer many more questions.

Harry nodded. "That's the main idea."

"You're _ridiculous_," Daphne said. Harry looked taken aback when she said this. "Are you going to defeat him alone or something? _Ridiculous_," she repeated.

"Well when you put it like that…" he trailed off.

Daphne scoffed. "That's exactly how it is."

Harry now scoffed too. "What right do you have to criticize my plan? _You're_ not even going to participate in this war."

"I'm not participating in this war because _I'm_ not suicidal!" Daphne exclaimed. "I'd like to live past my twenties, you know. If you were smart, you wouldn't fight either! You quit the Order; as far as I know you aren't on the priority kill list of the Death Eaters; you could just drop out of the war!"

Harry was _very_ angry now. "How would _you_ know if I was being hunted by Death Eaters? Didn't you back out? And _your_ parents weren't murdered by Voldemort; of course you wouldn't feel the need to fight in this war!" he yelled.

Daphne was shocked. No one had ever really _yelled_ at her like this before. She stumbled backwards, grabbing onto a shelf for support. Harry seemed to have calmed down a little bit although he was still breathing heavily. "Fine," Daphne began. "I'm sorry, alright? I won't comment on your choices as long as you don't comment on mine."

"Sounds good to me," Harry said gruffly. To Daphne's relief, he didn't seem very angry anymore.

"Just one more question though," Daphne said. Harry was silent. She took that as a sign to continue. "How old are you?"

Evidently, Harry had not been expecting such a harmless question, because his eyebrows shot upwards. "I'm fifteen," he replied.

"Fifteen?" Daphne was confused. "I thought you were at least seventeen since you talked about being in the Order."

"The Order makes exceptions," was the cryptic explanation. "What about you then?"

"I'm also fifteen," Daphne answered. "Odd, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Harry said. "How long have you been on the run?"

"Who said I was on the run?"

Harry smiled faintly. "Your robes are ragged, you look starved, you're standing in the kitchen of some abandoned house, you said you refused Lord Voldemort, you mentioned that you could get killed, but you're still alive. How would you _not_ be on the run?"

"Fine. I've been on the run since last winter," Daphne said. "Are you on the run then? You definitely look like it."

Harry thought for a moment before answering. "If I came across a Death Eater, I would definitely be attacked. I don't really know what would happen if I met an Order member. You see, when I said I quit the Order of the Phoenix, I meant that I _escaped_ them. So yes, I guess I am on the run. From both sides of the war."

Daphne was surprised at this. "I didn't know that being a member of the Order of the Phoenix was a lifetime commitment."

"Usually it isn't," Harry said. "But again, the Order makes exceptions."

Daphne's eyes narrowed. "So you were an important member, I guess? I mean, you're not even of age and apparently you had to _escape_ them, so…"

"You could say that. I really didn't get a choice in joining the Order anyway, though. After my parents" Harry grimaced, "died, Albus Dumbledore and some other Order members began training me to fight."

Daphne simply sat in silence. That explained why Harry never went to Hogwarts. His story was remarkably similar to her own. Both of them had been forced to join the war (even though Daphne backed out), and now they were both on the run. The similarity drew Daphne towards Harry. She felt a sudden desire to help him. Maybe she could gain something from him, too. It was a very spur-of-the-moment decision, but she decided to try her luck.

"Po-Harry," Daphne began tentatively. "If you help me survive this war, I'll help you with your plan to defeat the Dark Lord."

Harry said nothing, but Daphne knew he was considering her offer. "Not with the fighting," she added quickly. "More with planning and research, that type of stuff."

"Deal," Harry said suddenly. "One question though: Why are you suddenly willing to work with me? Weren't you planning on staying _out_ of this war?"

Daphne shrugged. "I guess… with being alone and on the run these months, I started to lose hope. Hope that I could make it out of the war alive, away from Death Eaters. Two people trying to survive seems better than one person, if you know what I mean. I'm a Slytherin, and I'm supposedly very cold and aloof, which I really am, but loneliness _does_ get depressing after awhile. Maybe we can help each other survive, and possibly end this war. That's really all I want here. For this war to end, so I can live without fear."

Daphne felt extremely awkward. She never confided in anyone over personal thoughts and feelings. She wasn't used to letting people know how she felt. Daphne hoped Harry wouldn't laugh.

If she had known him already, she would've known that he wouldn't laugh at something like this. Harry was actually nodding in approval. "Having the war end would be nice," he agreed, and then chuckled a little. "How long do you think it'll take? Another decade?"

"I hope not," Daphne answered honestly.

"And you're a Slytherin? You went to Hogwarts?" Harry asked, a bit of envy creeping into his voice.

Daphne nodded, wondering what her year mates were doing now in their homes. "What was it like?" Harry asked.

Daphne smiled sadly. "It was lovely, but I never realized that until after I ran away."

Harry nodded sagely. "Sometimes you don't realize what you have until it's gone," he said.

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_The romance in this story is going to come very slowly. Daphne and Harry will see each other only as partners for a long time. I know there wasn't much action this chapter, but I think next chapter will be more exciting. Please leave a review! They really make my day!_


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